Dr Janet Kumita

I received an Honours B.Sc. in Biochemistry from the University of Waterloo (Canada) and completed my Ph.D. at the University of Toronto in the laboratory of Prof. G.A. Woolley, where my work involved investigating reversible photo-control of peptide structure and activity. In 2003, I was awarded a NSERC Postdoctoral Fellowship and joined the research group of Prof. Sir Christopher M. Dobson in the Dept. of Chemistry, University of Cambridge, during which time I have been a Co-researcher Investigator on a BBRSC Project grant, a Senior Research Associate, and I am now a Principal Research Associate in the Centre for Misfolding Diseases.

My research interests focus on linking amyloid structures with cellular dysfunction. Aggregation in vivo is associated with a wide range of human disorders including Parkinson’s disease, systemic amyloidosis and motor neurone disease. Due to the prevalence of these disorders, it is crucial to increase our understanding of the mechanisms by which disease-associated peptides and proteins behave aberrantly. As the process of amyloid formation results in the population of a highly heterogeneous array of different protein conformers, it is extremely difficult to resolve how specific misfolded protein states elicit detrimental cellular responses. With this challenge in mind, our current research projects use a multidisciplinary approach aimed to define the structural attributes of these elusive species and to determine their influence on cellular trafficking, homeostasis and cell-to-cell transfer processes, all factors that are crucial in disease progression.